What’s the Deal with Google+?
July 6, 2011 at 1:36 am | Posted in Google, Social Media, Sports Marketing | 7 CommentsTags: Google, Google Plus, Googleplus
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Google is launching a new social layer to its services called Google+
I’ve received a few invites, but the service is still closed in a field trial at the time of writing – so this post is not so much of a “How to…” or “Look how awesome I am, I’m on the network and you aren’t!”
This post is more about “Where does this fit alongside Facebook and Twitter?” and “What does this mean for sports marketers?”
So here goes…
Where Does Google+ Fit with Facebook and Twitter?
It’s no secret that Google would like to take down Facebook. Previous attempts that Google have made at being more social didn’t work out. That would be Google Wave (email “reinvented” – the service is now extinct) and Google Buzz (if you’ve never heard of it, or cared to click on it on the left rail of your Gmail page – you are not alone).
Consider the potential of a Google social network. I mean, (just about) everyone uses Google – if they were successful in getting their Search users, their Gmail users, their Docs users, etc… they already have all the users – over 1 billion of them (Facebook has 700M), they already own YouTube… Google could carve out a pretty hefty social network – IF people adopted it. But they don’t have to adopt it – Google has already figured a way around this – by forcing all users on to Google+.
No more asking for an invite… you won’t need one. Google+ will come to you soon enough. How? Some time ago – Google launched Profiles, another stand alone social project that was left seemingly in isolation. But as of July 31/11, all existing profiles will become public. If you have a gmail, or any Google Profile, you are also about to be a Google+ user too. So be patient.
From what I understand, Google+ will integrate Twitter and Facebook to some degree. The big question is… “Do we need or will be benefit from another social network?” We shall see…
What Does Google+ Mean for Sports Marketers?
Straight up – I don’t know (yet). Many teams have gone and invested dedicated resources to social media – and for very good reasons. We all know that change is the one constant in this space, and here it comes again in the form of Google+. But does this mean that your social media coordinator and Director of Digital need to become an expert admin in this space too?
Only time will tell – I have no insight into how brands and teams can leverage Google+ or how important this will become or how fast. It’s up to the users, it’s up to the fans. Consider the rapid rise of Facebook – fans were their first with home-made fan pages for their favorite teams. Will that be repeated here? Should “innovative” teams look to move rapidly into Google+?
I can’t wait to answer these questions – this is what is exciting about the digital and social spaces. For the time being, keep a close eye. Get involved, follow this blog and others who are concerned with social media and sports.
* UPDATE * (July 6/11) Here is a link regarding Google+ and Brands… the short story = hold tight, sports teams and brands, Google+ is working on the experience for businesses now.
7 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a Reply
-
Carson McKee,
Digital wing man and social media consultant. -
-
-
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
[...] What’s the Deal with Google+? (directcontact.ca) [...]
Pingback by Google+ and Journalism, ten ways « Twitter and Media— July 6, 2011 #
Thanks for writing the article
Comment by Sean— July 6, 2011 #
[...] What’s the Deal with Google+? (directcontact.ca) [...]
Pingback by Google+ and a sequel to ‘The social Network’ « Social Media Alley— July 8, 2011 #
[...] What’s the Deal with Google+? (directcontact.ca) [...]
Pingback by Socialerator | Google+ and a sequel to ‘The Social Network’— November 1, 2011 #
If you are not ready to fight with yourself,
to say “NO” to things you liked to do or which were just a habit to you then
nothing on Earth will help you to get rid of those
excess pounds. It has a 2-megapixel rear-facing camera and
a 5-megapixel front-facing one. Customers seeing those two price
points might hesitate to buy Microsoft’s
option.
Comment by type— April 30, 2013 #
Great goods from you, man. I’ve be aware your stuff previous to and you are simply too excellent. I really like what you have obtained right here, really like what you’re
saying and the way in which you assert it. You are making it enjoyable and you still take care of to stay
it wise. I can’t wait to read much more from you. This is actually a terrific web site.
Comment by On the internet Hotel Concerns Services— May 15, 2013 #
Hello there, I found your web site via Google while searching
for a related topic, your website came up, it appears good.
I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hi there, just became alert to your weblog through Google, and located that it’s really informative.
I am gonna be careful for brussels. I’ll be grateful when you proceed this in future. Lots of other people can be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!
Comment by The most effective way to locate a great hotel.— May 16, 2013 #